


This years's flu is going viral

by bourbon



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Roy Is A Sap, taking care of each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 15:23:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13216599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bourbon/pseuds/bourbon
Summary: “What’s there to be prepared about? We’re already dating.”“You’re not supposed to say I love you before you’ve been together at least three months.” , Roy replied somewhat disgruntled and scowled when Ed started to laugh.“Did you read this up or something?Ten Steps to a successful relationship?”, Ed asked trying not to laugh.There was a short pause before Roy replied with a unconvincing “No.”





	This years's flu is going viral

**Author's Note:**

> This is pure, unaltered teeth rotting fluff and I’ve never been more disgusted of myself. 
> 
> But well, it is for a very special lad *finger guns*  
> Happy birthday, loveliest of all bro’s  
> Not spoilering you for any of this has been very difficult, especially you’re always in the next room and I couldn’t even scream at my laptop. 
> 
> This sets place post FMA!Brotherhood but Ed keeps his automail arm because I said so.  
> It’s actually quite a while after the end of the anime/manga. Ed is in his mid twenties and Roy still pretends that the grey hair he found one morning was a fluke.

The rain started in the end of September. A week of continuous rain wasn’t unusual for Central in that time of the year which explained why autumn was Mustang’s least favorite season. It also explained why there was little talk about anything else _but_ the weather in the office during that time.

“I always thought rain has something … poetic, you know.”, Breda said just loud enough to be also heard in the connecting room. He took a wistful look out of the window and then sighed.

“There is something about it that makes me happy.”, Havoc agreed and scratched his beard. “Though I don’t know what exactly it is.”

While Fuery and Falmann were too nice to openly show their schadenfreude, Ed was not.

He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. “There is nothing like-”, he started but was interrupted by a series of coughs. His coworkers changed glances and Breda shifted in his seat closer to Fuery and away from Ed. It wasn’t like Ed didn’t notice their stupid concerned behavior but they all were worried over nothing. 

“Don’t shit your pants.”, Ed said while trying to find a unused handkerchief in one of his pockets. Hawkeye took pity with him and handed him one. For some reason his nose was running a lot these days but that wasn’t big of a deal. It wasn’t like he had a flesh wound or was coughing blood. Honestly, he couldn’t understand why they made such a big deal out of it. He stuffed the handkerchief in his already overflowing pocket after blowing his nose and went back to work. Or tried to at least.

“Take a day or two off.”, Havoc suggested. Ed looked up from the book in front of him to glare at him. Havoc held his hands up in surrender and nearly dropped cigarette ash on documents he was working on by doing so. “You’ll feel better afterwards.”, he added but it sounded more like a question.

“Elrics don’t get sick.” Ed countered scowling and redirected his attention back to his book. He wasn’t sick. He had never been sick in his entire life. Sure, he had been injured. Like when he was a dumbass kid and broke his finger when sparring with Al. Or when he twisted his ankle when Winry, Al and him had to run from a herd of angry cows. Or when he lost his arm and his leg because he decided to play god with the age of ten and tried to revive his mother. Not to mentions all the times that he ended up in the hospital because of his job as a dog of the military. But sick? “My immune system needs a bit more time to fight it off. I’m fine.”

“Sure, Jan.”, muttered Havoc to himself but loud enough for the entire office to hear. Within a second Ed was on his feet.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST-”

“I said _Sure, Boss_.”, Havoc answered hastily. The sound of a gun clicking reminded Ed that the book translation was needed very urgently so he should get back to work. Like right now.

//_________//

“You look like the dead. Go home.”, Breda greeted Ed the next day. When Ed showed no sign of turning around and leaving Breda cursed under his breath, hastily grabbed a few things from the top of his desk and shoved them on Fuery’s. If Ed wasn’t only able to stand on his feet out of spite he would have rolled his eyes at Breda’s childish behavior. Sure, Breda’s desk was closest to Ed’s but that didn’t matter since Ed was not sick. He opened his mouth to tell his colleague exactly that but out came only a series of coughs. He used his automail arm to support himself on his desk before sliding in his chair.

“It might be better for you to rest, Edward.”, Hawkeye agreed. Ed eyed her suspiciously. She wasn’t usually one to get involved with the usual office banter. Did Alphonse take up on his promise and called her after he had left their flat earlier? But if so, how did Al convince her to take sides with him? Did he manage to buy those dog treats for Hayate- what brand where they from again? The packaging was kind of bland but the drawing of the dog on it was kind of cute. Ed noticed that he had spaced out when Hawkeye was about to get out of her chair.

“I slept through my alarm.”, Ed said somewhat lamely. It wasn’t exactly a lie since he did oversleep. Judging from his colleagues unimpressed faces they didn’t buy the story. Why did people that cared about you had to be so annoying? Couldn’t they see that this was only a small setback, nothing to worry about. He folded his arms in front of his chest and scowled at everyone who dared to make eye contact. “I’m fit as a- what’s the saying again? Dunno, anyways I’m fit.”, he added convincing absolutely no one since he started coughing the second after he finished speaking. He went back to scowling as soon as the coughing had stopped and everyone left him alone. So Ed sighed already exhausted from the day - and it wasn’t even 10am yet- and tried to concentrate on his work.

The page in front of him has decided to fuck with him since the letters keep becoming blurry no matter how hard he squinted his eyes. From time to time the passages became clear but the vision in the corners of his eyes kept getting blurry. He didn’t realise how much time passed until he looked up and everyone around him was gone. Lunch time it was then. A quick glance to the clock on the wall behind him confirmed his theory and he stretched his arms above his head which somehow lead to more coughing. Annoyed with his body he rubbed his eyes and grabbed the pen again. Ed didn’t feel particularly hungry, in fact he hadn’t felt like eating in a few days now. He felt exhausted. After a deep breath he tried to focus again but without success. Maybe if he closed his eyes for just a second-

When he woke up again Ed found himself wrapped in not one but two blankets and with a cup of tea on the coffee table next to him. The room was illuminated by a fire in the fireplace which meant that Ed must have slept through most of the day. He groaned and tried to free his arms out of the blanket cocoon. He managed to sit up and glanced around. He was alone and even though it’s not his own living room he knows it like his own. Why the fuck was he in Mustangs living room?

Speaking of the devil, Roy Mustang entered the room soundless dressed in civilian clothes - which still weirded Ed out for some reason. It always took him half an hour to get used to the sight of Roy outside of his military uniform. Maybe it was because he had hardly ever seen him in anything but his uniform for the first five years of knowing him.

The image of Roy in his uniform had ingrained itself in Ed’s memory. Roy smiled softly when he saw that Ed was awake and went over to the couch to him. Ed hastily turned his head because he was not staring. Roy knelt down next to him and gently rested a hand on Ed’s forehead presumably to check his temperature. Ed was not blushing. It was just his fever. That was why his face suddenly felt very hot. Not that he was actually sick because he was fine. Ugh.

“Shut up, you stupid bastard with your ugly ass smirk.”, Ed mumbled but Roy’s smile turned in a full blown smile and that was cheating honestly. How was he supposed to be angry now? Why was he angry in first place again? He wanted to go back to his nap to be honest. “How did I get here?”, he asked and avoided eye contact. 

“You passed out on your desk. We put you on the couch in the hope you might wake up on your own. But when everyone started leaving and you were still asleep, I was given the responsibility to drive you home.” , Roy answered softly and he tried to tug one of the loose strands of hair behind Ed’s ear. As if that would actually work.

“So you decided to kidnap me?”, Ed asked narrowing his eyes.

“I actually called Alphonse first. He told me that he will leave it to my - _and I quote_ \- ‘capable hands to convince Brother to get some rest’. And he ordered me to take you here since - _and I quote again_ \- ‘he’s basically living at your place’.”

“Is that your way of asking me to move in with you because I gotta tell you it’s not working.”

“Of course not.”, Roy facial expression changed from amused to mildly offended. “When I’m going to ask you to move in with me it will be after a very successful date night. We’re going to your favorite restaurant so you can eat as much steak as you can. And then over desert-”

Ed could feel his cheeks heat up again and he didn’t want to encourage Roy’s idiotic ideas. He tried to hide his blushing face by snuggling closer in his blanket before cutting in: “You’re such a fucking sap.”

Instead of replying Roy stood up and Ed wanted to apologise. He didn’t want Roy to leave already. Ed was just really bad at this whole feeling stuff and his insecurities made him lash out whenever he felt embarrassed. Or at least that was what his therapist had told him. He wasn’t per se _bad_ at this just… not used to it? Still didn’t believe that someone amazing like Roy would like someone as broken as Ed? To his surprise Roy didn’t leave though. Instead he carefully lifted Ed up a bit. Only enough to squeeze himself on the couch. Satisfied with his new position Roy put his arms around Edward and let out a content sigh.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”, Ed asked to clarify the situation.

“I believe commoners call it cuddling, your Highness.”

“Get off me!”

“No.”

And there was that stupid smug voice again when Roy tightened his grip around him as Ed tried to wiggle out of the embrace. Ed was nearly lying on top of Roy with his back pressed against Roy’s front so he couldn’t see the bastards face but Ed was positive that Roy was smirking again.

“Get the fuck away from me, you fucking idiot. You’ll get sick, too.”

“Oh, so now you’re admitting that you’re sick?”, and wow, did this smug bastard sound pleased with himself. Roy was lucky that Edwards limbs currently felt very heavy or otherwise he would have punched him. Hard. Possibly with his automail arm.

“Stupid politicians.”, he muttered as he snuggled a little bit closer to find a more comfortable position. “Always twisting your words around.”

Roy laughed softly and started running his right hand through Ed’s hair. All tension left Ed’s body in an instant and he fully relaxed against Roy.

“I always wondered why Alphonse was so insistent on getting a cat when his brother basically behaves like one.” , Roy mused while he removed the hair tie and slowly combed with his fingers through Ed’s hair.

Ed opened one eye and glanced lazily at Roy. He had to turn his head in a somewhat awkward ankle but it was to confirm that Roy was wearing that stupid fond expression again. “Hisses at everyone and doesn’t share food?”, Ed guessed closing his eyes again.

Roy hummed to himself. “Will start purring when given head scratches.” , he corrected and started to rub with his thumb at the sensitive spot right behind Ed’s right ear. With an inaudible sigh Ed rolled his head to the side to give him better access. They stayed like this for some time until Ed sighed again.

“But seriously, I don’t want you to get sick as well. You should go. Hawkeye will kill me otherwise.”, Ed tried to argue but Roy only tightened the grip of his left hand around Ed’s waist in response.

“Don’t worry about that, Edward.”

Edward looked away and tucked the blanket closer this his face to hide the blush on his face. Stupid Mustang saying embarrassing things all the time.

“Stop it.”, he mumbled and Roy withdrew immediately his hand. Edward huffed in annoyance. “Not that. You know what I mean.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Edward.”, Roy said in a voice that was way too smug for him being oblivious. At least he went back to giving Ed head scratches. He hated Roy for making him spill it out like that but then again he did need to work on his communication skills.

“Calling me that.”

“I believe it is your given name, Edward.” And yep, Roy definitely kept doing it to spite him.

“You could call me Ed like everyone else.”, Ed tried to argue.

“But why would I do that when you blush so beautifully when I call you Edward?” , Roy said and pressed a quick kiss on the back of Ed’s head. Ed’s heart skipped a beat. Did that bastard was even aware of what he was doing to him?

“I hate you.”, Ed groaned. “Why is your name so short? You don’t have a secret middle name by any chance?”

"I'm sorry to disappoint.", Roy said but he didn't sound sorry at all. He used his free hand to brush Ed's bangs out of his face. Ed shook his face to get them to fall back in place and turned his head to stare at Roy.

"I guess, I have to call you Roy Boy from now on if I want a reaction from you.", he said brightly. Roy looked like he bit a lemon and shuddered.

"Please, never ever do that again.", Roy pleaded. "Ew."

Ed let out a sharp laugh which turned into a coughing fit. Roy tightened his grip around Ed’s waist and held him closely until Ed had calmed down. With his freakishly long arms Roy managed to grab the cup of tea from the coffee table and insisted that he should drink at least half of it. Ed drank all of it but didn’t immediately feel better afterwards. What was the point then? He sighed and leaned back on Roy’s chest. If he turned his head slightly he could hear Roy’s heartbeat in his chest.

“You should go.”, Ed said as he snuggled closer and barely suppressed a yawn. “Don’t want you to get sick.”

“A few more minutes won’t hurt.”, Roy insisted and went back to running his hand through Ed’s hair.

“I love you.”, Ed mumbled with his eyes closed. Roy froze mid-movement which caused Ed to open his eyes again and sit up. He turned around to stare at Roy who was hiding his face behinds his hands. “Are you blushing?”, he asked astonished.

“No.”, Roy said but his voice cracked. Ed forgot about being sick and tired in an instant and freed himself out of his blanket cocoon to fully climb in Roy’s lap. He carefully took Roy’s hands in his own and tried to lower them. Roy resisted for a second but then gave in. Ed forgot how to breathe for a second. He didn’t think he would ever be able to see the calm and collected Roy blushing. Roy, who always had a sarcastic remark on the tip of his tongue, _blushing_. It was so outrageously adorable Ed felt the insane urge to punch something. 

“It’s your fault.”, Roy said weakly avoiding eye contact. “I wasn’t prepared.”

Ed snorted but didn’t let go of Roy’s hands. He could faintly hear the rain thrumming against the windows. “What’s there to be prepared about? We’re already dating.”

“You’re not supposed to say I love you before you’ve been together at least three months.” , Roy replied somewhat disgruntled and scowled when Ed started to laugh.

“Did you read this up or something? _Ten Steps to a successful relationship_?”, Ed asked trying not to laugh.

There was a short pause before Roy replied with a unconvincing “No.” which only made Ed laugh even more. But soon again his laugh was interrupted by coughing. Completely out of breath Ed snuggled against Roy’s chest and closed his eyes.

“You’re such a dork.”, he said. “And I love you for that.”

Roy made a strangled noise but wrapped his arms around Ed’s torso. Then he buried his face in Ed’s hair making it impossible for Ed to check if his boyfriend was blushing again.

“I love you, too.”, Roy whispered but Ed was already falling asleep.

///________//

Despite his claims to be immune to viruses Roy did end up getting sick as well. One a more positive note, Ed felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders. He could breathe through his nose for what felt like the first time in months. He had spent most of the weekend napping on Roy’s couch and drinking a ridiculous amount of tea. He still wasn’t entirely convinced that the tea had done anything but make him go to the toilet every half an hour. But whenever Roy had come with a cup of freshly brewed tea Ed didn’t have the heart to tell him no. What mattered was that he felt way better than on Friday (not that he had been actually sick). He sat on the bed next to Roy while he braided his hair to get ready to go to work. Roy hadn’t moved an inch since his alarm clock had woken them both up, his hair looked like a bird’s nest and he had the blanket pulled up to his nose. How did he still end up looking more adorable than anything else? Ed always woke up with pillow creases on his face and his hair standing up to all sides. He would sleep with a braid but his hair always ended up tangled up. 

“I’m positive that this is not illness but a curse that you pass on to other people.”, Roy said as he looked up to Ed. Ed just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“I told you that you would get sick if you kept close to me but did you listen? No.”, Ed said because Roy had in fact not listened to him for the entire weekend.

Roy winced and buried his face in his pillow. “Can your criticism wait until my head stops spinning?”

“How is it that you can put a facade when you have a gunshot so Hawkeye doesn’t notice but when you have a goddamn flu you turn into a whining baby?” , Ed asked with a raised eyebrow. He hadn’t expected Roy to be this melodramatic over a sore throat and a few coughs but then again why was he surprised? Roy would use anything to get out of paperwork.

“Cruel words to say to a man on his deathbed.”, Roy remarked.

“Roy, you have a cold.”

“I have a fever. Look.”, Roy took Ed’s human hand and pressed it against his forehead. Ed narrowed his eyes.

“If this is going to be one of your alchemy puns I swear-”

“I’m flaming.”

Ed used his left arm (Roy was sick after all) to give him a light jab in his side. Roy made a high squealing noise before grabbing Ed by his wrist and pulling him towards him. Ed lost his balance and fell face forward on Roy who sneaked his arms out from under the blanket and wrapped them around Ed. Ed wasn’t sure if this was the right time to cuddle with his boyfriend. Not only because he was heavier than people suspected (due to the automail) but also because he had to go to work. Like immediately. But then Roy buried his face in Ed’s neck and inhaled deeply and what are a few more minutes anyway? Roy’s apartment was way closer to the office than his and Al’s shitty rathole. Two or three minutes wouldn’t hurt. If he walked a little faster than normal he would still make it in time. Ed closed his eyes and concentrated and the rising and falling of Roy’s chest underneath him. It was so calming that he was about to drift into sleep again. Ed forced himself to open his eyes and turned his head around so he could look Roy in the eyes.

“I need to go to work.”, he said and tugged at Roy’s arms that still held him in place.

“Don’t go.”, Roy answered giving him puppy eyes that would have put Hayate into shame. So this was the reason how Roy was still alive after procrastinating work even when Hawkeye specifically told him to get it done.

Ed huffed in response and wiggled himself out of Roy’s arms. He quickly rolled to the other end of the bed to withstand the temptation to stay there. “Don’t act like we’ll never see each other again.”

“Because not seeing you always feels like an eternity, Edward.”, Roy said earnestly and Ed could feel his cheeks heating up. He grabbed the pillow next to him and threw it in Roy’s general direction. It landed on Roy’s face with an “ouff”. 10/10 he could become a sniper if he wanted to. Not that he actually ever had the urge to fire a gun because guns kill people and Ed didn’t. It was still a satisfying feeling to know that he would be a great sniper if he had chosen to become one.

“Don’t say embarrassing stuff like that.”, he said. “And I’ll come back after work.”

“Checking in to see if I’m dead, I presume.”, Roy answered after he pushed the pillow out of his face and tried (and failed) to fix his ruffled hair.

“Someone needs to take care of you.”, Ed said. He tugged nervously on his braid. “I’ll swing by my place to get my stuff so I can stay here until you get better.”

Come on, Elric. He had prepared the speech in his head. This was the best opportunity he was going to get. He had practised it twice in the shower today. “Or I’ll stay forever?”, he added lamely. “I mean if you want me to. No hard feelings if you don’t. Totally understandable I wouldn’t want to live with a slob like me either.”

And he was rambling. Not good. Not what he had planned. Also he was doing a piss poor job at convincing Roy to let him move in. “I know it’s probably too soon considering we haven’t hit the three months mark yet but _fuck_ rules. I don’t want to wait because of some arbitrary rules that society has pushed on to us. I- I really liked staying here this weekend and you know, all the other times when I was over. I don’t want to go back to my place - which no offence, I love Al but you know, our ceiling is leaking and the landlord doesn’t let us use alchemy to fix anything. Also I kind of like the thought of coming home to spend time with you.”

Ed always was and always had been a scientist at heart. He had considered multiple possible outcomes of this event and sorted them after their probability. With all the data he had accumulated he had hoped that Roy would have smiled and reached for Ed’s face to brush his bangs out of his face and say something like “Of course, Edward. You didn’t need to ask.”. Okay, maybe this was a very vivid daydream but Ed had been pretty fucking sure that Roy would be on board. At least he had assumed that his boyfriend would be willing to try. Ed had certainly not expected Roy to roll over onto his side with his back towards Ed and sulk like a freaking child.

“Roy?”, he asked with a sigh because seriously, how was he the younger one in this relationship? It didn’t feel that way right now. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”, Roy replied and drew the blanket over his head. “Everything is perfectly fine. Just peachy. Not like I already made reservations at the Saffron’s for next month.”

“Are you-”, Ed started and then shook his head. “Are you sulking because I asked you to move in first?”

“No.”, Roy said. His voice was somewhat muffled from the blanket. “It doesn’t matter who asks whom.”

“So you’re angry because we can’t go the restaurant? Because I have some big news for you, you can go out for dinner whenever the heck you want.”

Roy made a frustrated noise and turned back to him. “Do you have even one romantic bone in your body? I wanted it to be special, okay? I wanted it to be something we both can look back on with a smile on our face. I wanted to boast with it at dinner parties. I wanted something that doesn’t involve me not being able to breathe through my nose.”

“Ah.”, Ed said. It took him a moment to proceed what Roy said before he took the pillow again, this time to try to suffocate his boyfriend. “I just opened up to you, told you about my embarrassing feelings and that’s not freaking romantic enough for you, you fucking jerk?! Take this.”

The perks of Roy being sick was that he was ridiculously easy to overpower. Hardly put up any fight. It wasn’t until Ed’s hands started wandering towards Roy’s sides that Roy started to put some real effort into it. It was too late though because Ed’s fingers already sunk into his flesh and Roy started to giggle. It was actually more of a weeze since he was sick but that didn’t actually matter. What mattered that Roy Mustang, soon to be Führer of freakin’ Amestris, was _ticklish._

“Have mercy.”, Roy said breathless still trying to fight Ed’s hands off. Ed tilted his head to the side and pretended to consider it for a moment before tickling him again. Roy laughed again but it soon turned into coughing. Ed immediately stopped tickling and waited for Roy to calm down. When he absently tugged a loose strand of hair behind his ear he noticed that he had lost his hair tie somewhere on the bed and he had to re-braid his hair. Cursing under his breath he looked for it but it was a hopeless investigation. Wordlessly Roy tugged a hair tie from his wrist and handed it to Ed.

“I noticed that you tend to lose them.”, he admitted to Ed’s questioning look. Ed pressed a quick kiss on Roy’s forehead as a thank you and then sighed as he started to braid his hair yet again.

“Maybe I should cut it off.”, he mused. “It’s not worth the hassle and they clog the shower drain.”

“You might as well suffocate me with that pillow right now.”, Roy said. “Even if you want me dead, there is no need to make me suffer like that.”

“Don’t be so fucking dramatic.”, Ed snorted. He had finished braiding and was currently fixing it with his hair tie. “It’s hair. It can grow back, you know.”

Instead of behaving like an adult Roy crossed his arms in front of his chest and went back to sulking. “I’m sick.”, he said and then coughed to make a point. Or at least Ed thought that he did it to prove a point. The timing was highly suspicious. “You shouldn’t be mean to me.” Now Roy had officially lost touch to reality.

“How is cutting my own hair off being mean?”

“I like your hair like this.”

“You’re so shallow.”, Ed remarked with a head shake.

“I’m a mere admirer of beauty.”, Roy defended himself to which Ed only rolled his eyes. Everyone liked to receive a compliment from to time but Roy always went overboard with it. Once he started counting off all the things he liked about Ed, he kept going until Ed couldn’t handle the embarrassment anymore and kissed the idiot to shut him up. Huh, thinking about it that might be why Roy kept doing that. That sneaky son of a bitch. He ruffled Roy’s hair before (finally) getting up. He straightened his uniform and checked one last time if there were any lose strands of hair hanging out of his braid.

“Alright, since you will play sick for the next two weeks otherwise, let’s say”, Ed said. “If you’re not back in the office by the end of the week, I’ll cut my hair off.”

Roy’s head darted up and he looked at Ed in horror. He looked sort of pale as well. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me, Mustang.”, Ed said with a smile that was all teeth. He marched out of the room before remembering their earlier conversation before they got sidetracked and turned on his heels. “You still owe me an answer, asshat.”

“Yes, Edward. I‘d be delighted if you stayed.”, Roy answered smoothly. It had taken him a total of two seconds to recover. Meanwhile Ed stood in the doorway not knowing what to say.

“Cool.”, he said. “Cool, cool.”

Then he hurried out of the room because he was late for work and not at all trying to hide his blushing face from Roy.


End file.
